Great Scott: Is 'Heuped-up' UCF offense already better than Frost's?

Aug 31, 2018 | by Mike Bianchi, Orlando Sentinel

After watching the Knights’ 56-17 demolition of UConn in the season-opener Thursday night, it’s already abundantly clear: New coach Josh Heupel’s offense might just be even better than old coach Scott Frost’s offense.

Frost’s offense led the nation in scoring last year (48.2 points per game) and went up and down the field at a rapid-fire pace; Heupel’s offense scored 56 last night against UConn and went up and down the field at warp speed.

The Knights compiled 652 yards (they averaged 530 last year) and scored on 8 of 9 possessions. None of their scoring drives took longer than 2 minutes, 39 seconds.

Heisman-contending quarterback McKenzie Milton (346 passing yards and five TDs) and his teammates weren’t kidding when they said during the preseason that Heupel’s offense actually moves faster than Frost’s. An offense nicknamed UC-Fast when Frost took over was UC-FantasticallyFabulouslyFreakyFast on Thursday night.

The public-address announcer in the stadium press box eventually gave up on trying to keep up with Heupel’s play calls, and at one point the ESPN TV crew missed two plays of live action.

“When your players are executing very well, it can go fast,” Heupel said. “We’re not in a race or anything else, just trying to go 1-0. When the tempo provides an opportunity for us, we’re going to use it. The kids have handled it and grasped onto it very well.”

Mike Bianchi, Matt Murschel and Chris Hays preview the UCF football season talking about preseason rankings, McKenzie Milton for Heisman, new coach Josh Heupel and the first game at UConn.

Said Milton: “I give a lot of credit to our strength staff for getting us in the right condition to be able to play that fast. And I give a lot of credit to coach Heupel and the offensive coaches for getting us to push that tempo.”

As far as debuts go, this was an amazing — the best first act we’ve seen since the opening scene of “Jaws.” Except it was UConn’s defense that played the role of the skinny-dipping teenager.

UCF completed a perfect season under Frost and, likewise, this was the perfect season opener for Heupel.

It took just one game for the new coach to get the Knights’ offense — and perhaps even their ticket sales — moving at “Heuper” speed.